Obama Expresses Contrition for Obamacare Statements

President Obama today took a step toward restoring the trust of the American people after his repeated false claims that everyone could keep their current insurance under Obamacare, acknowledging that his statements were wrong – while not admitting he intentionally misled anyone – and expressing regret that people were not fully informed by him.

In an interview with NBC White House Correspondent Chuck Todd, Obama offered up some contrition, even without acknowledging intent to mislead.

“Even though it’s a small percentage of folks who may be disadvantaged, you know, it means a lot to them. And it’s scary to them,” Obama said “And I am sorry that they — you know, are finding themselves in this situation, based on assurances they got from me.”

Todd handled the interview well, asking tough questions but doing it in a gentle, less pointed style than others might have. This works well with Obama, who would inevitably have gotten his back up with someone displaying a more confrontational style. The result was a president who seemed remorseful and hopeful that he would be judged the law that is his signature and not on the statements he made.

Given the way Obamacare is working out, he may come to regret it.

Obama starts off asserting that he “meant what I said” when he stated people could keep their health plans:

Todd: It’s probably the most quoted thing or requoted thing you have said in your presidency, “If you like your health care plan, you can keep it.” You said it a lot during the run up. At this point, though, it’s obviously something — a promise that has not been able to be kept. Just today, the Denver Post 250,000 people in Colorado are seeing health insurance policies cancelled. Some of those people liked those policies. And they can’t keep them. What happened?

Obama: Well — first of all, I meant what I said. And we worked hard to try to make sure that we implemented it properly. But obviously, we didn’t do enough — a good enough job –and I regret that.

But then he begins to acknowledge a misstatement, saying, “we weren’t as clear as we needed to be.”

Todd: Even if you didn’t intentionally do it, but at this point, they feel misled. And you’ve seen the anger that’s out there.

Obama: You know — I regret very much that — what we intended to do, which is to make sure that everybody is moving into better plans because they want ’em, as opposed to because they’re forced into it. That, you know, we weren’t as clear as we needed to be — in terms of the changes that were takin’ place . And I want to do everything we can to make sure that people are finding themselves in a good position — a better position than they were before this law happened . . .

He expresses remorse and takes responsibility:

But it — even though it’s a small percentage of folks who may be disadvantaged, you know, it means a lot to them. And it’s scary to them. And I am sorry that they — you know, are finding themselves in this situation, based on assurances they got from me. We’ve got to work hard to make sure that — they know — we hear ’em and that we’re gonna do everything we can — to deal with folks who find themselves — in a tough position as a consequence of this . . .

And then he pointedly doesn’t deny that his credibility is shot, that he may no longer be trusted, and that in his statements he left out critical information.

Todd: Do you feel — considering how much this quote has been — it’s late night, it’s all sorts of things, that — do you understand that people are gonna be skeptical of the next promise you make, of the next — or are you concerned that people are gonna be wondering, “Jeez, what is the fine print that he’s not telling me?” Do you get that people might be a little more skeptical? Forget the partisans here in Washington , just average Americans.

Obama: You know, I — I — I’ll tell you, Chuck. I — I think that — I’ve now been in national public life for seven, eight years. I’ve been president for — almost five. And I think for the most part people know that I speak my mind and I tell folks what I think and I’ve been very clear about what I’m trying to do. And I think most people know that — even if they disagree with me on certain issues — that I’m every day workin’ hard to try to make life a little bit better for middle class families who are — and folks who are tryin’ to get in the middle class who are doin’ the right thing and bein’ responsible . . .

So ultimately, I think I’ll be judged on whether this thing is better for people overall. And in the meantime, even if it’s a small percentage of people . . . I want everybody out there to know that, you know, my entire intention here is to make sure that — people have the security of affordable health care.

Below is a video of the entire interview. The video is worth watching. It’s rare to see a president – particularly this one – let the buck stop at his desk and take some lumps.

I know, as if people are idiots and bought substandard stuff. They bought what was right for them. Maybe Obama can take money from other people and redo my kitchen. It’s substandard, I assure you, but it works well enough.

There’s a woman in California whose “substandard” policy has been paying for her treatment for gall bladder cancer for several years, at a clinic in Texas as well as Stanford and some other place in California. Because she lives in San Diego, the “higher quality” government-designed plans do not cover treatment in Texas or at Stanford.

On Morning Joe, Donnie D said this AM that she was getting even better insurance. Only place I heard that–oh, except that Plouffe individual tweeting attacking her. I read the piece–she had docs up at Stanford and local docs in San Diego–now some of them would be out of network. So her team was broken up. How Donnie D knows squat about this I have no idea.

Obama: You know – I regret very much that — what we intended to do, which is to make sure that everybody is moving into better plans because they want ‘em, as opposed to because they’re forced into it.

Isn’t that one of the main points- and gripes- about Ocare? He insists on forcing it on everyone (unless he magnimoniously gives you a waiver). And I especially object to the mandate which tried to make employers go against their religios beliefs (which, for the moment, some court stopped).

I’m not buying it, either. Rather than say directly “I screwed up and I take full responsibility for that”. He squirms, wriggles, dances, and spins himself out of complete responsibility for this mess. It’s his lack of management skills, his disengagement with the process, his, what, chronic insouciance to the real world around him that comes across in the interview. I’ve see CEO’s fired for far less than this.

Sorry “we” (whoever that is) made assurances isn’t going to help the millions of people who have lost their current insurance plans.
He’s offering nothing to help those citizens. Truly being sorry comes with a promise to make amends and he’s not doing that.

Guessing here; internal polling has his approval down in the 20’s, the website is nowhere near ready, and MrsSillybus will announce tomorrow that some delay will be set for the mandate.
The insurance companies are screaming bloody murder, the Congressional Dems are threatening their own legislative delay.

What a miserable mess the Dems have made that only affects ordinary citizens.

He made this statement – “Obviously we didn’t do a good enough job in terms of how we crafted the law, and, you know, that’s something I regret. That’s something we’re gonna do everything we can to get fixed … We’re looking at a range of options.”

I think he is past regret. He’s already moved on. It’s more like how can I salvage my poll ratings and get them back above 50%. There will still be the campaign trips.. nothing will get in the way of his upcoming vacation. Meanwhile, we have another budget showdown and debt ceiling deadline approaching again. He needs to put aside all the distractions and solve some of the real issues. But that’s right, he is not a real hands on person. It’s better to ignore or belittle the public and their representatives. If he were to get the above issues solved (doubtfully) and then could move on to immigration, and other issues.

“Oh well, universal heath care didn’t work out as a legacy. I’ll try immigration instead.” They’re pushing for a comprehensive bill just like Obamacare, and no one knows what’s in it. Wake up, America.

He is certainly trying to move on. Note that he made a huge immigration speech as well as an announcement about “We’re gonna do more about global warming” statement just in recent days. He trying to move on, and get the pesky ObamaCare mess behind him. Ain’t gonna happen. He’s found his albatross and it’s hanging on tight around his neck.

I wonder what their internal polling is telling them. For President Obama to apologize tells me that they are sensing that things are really really really really bad. This man and his ego don’t bend easily. It makes me wonder when the other shoe will drop.

The next shoe to drop will be the sticker shock once people start signing up. The website will eventually get fixed and people will be outraged when they find their premiums have gone up along with their deductables. Its already starting to happpen. The next one after that will be revised estimates from the CBO showing that the cost to the government has skyrocketed compared to the original bogus estimates. The next one after that will be when the employer mandate kicks in and millions more lose their insurance.

What a contriving sanctimonious bastard. If he were genuinely sorry, he would have apologized. He would have done so when it was clear individuals were wronged, before the election. I could spit nails.

He didn’t have the intestinal fortitute to stand up like a man, look directly into the camera, and say “I lied”. Instead, the little fop sat in his upholstered silk chair across from his lapdog, Chuckie Todd, in his usual effeminate pose – legs crossed like a girl, hands delicately clasped in his lap – pursing his lips and parsing his words.

You can’t ‘fix it’, Mr. Obama. Tens of millions of Americans are losing their AFFORDABLE insurance to pay for sub-standard crap that is double and triple what they are now paying. There is no free lunch except for your peeps who pay nothing into the system. This is by design. You bamboozled us.

You have two choices, Mr. Obama. Resign or repeal the entire mess you created. You lied for the first 4 years for one reason: to get yourself re-elected. You need to pay for your crime against the American people. The UNAFFORDABLE Platinum plan is the ONLY plan that comes close to giving the coverage Americans had before you took it away from them. You swindled us!

You have less than two months to do the right thing…providing, of course, the insurance companies can put the toothpaste back in the tube. You created a monster.

“There is no free lunch except for your peeps who pay nothing into the system. This is by design.”

Obamacare success stories:
Law student who used to pay $34 a month for insurance — almost certainly less than he spends on entertainment — now gets it free, courtesy of the taxpayers. More beer money!

A couple in Albuquerque with Ivy League degrees, maybe graduate degrees included, have chosen to spend all their time doing “art,” so the government requires the taxpayers to fund the entire cost of their health insurance. That leaves more money to spend on decorating their house, which looks reasonably nice in the photo.

Modest builder now will have to pay twice as much for insurance, which he cannot go without. He lives frugally, spends little on entertainment, doesn’t have much room in the budget to cut back — but hey, now he’s helping some artists and a law student get free health insurance! Aren’t Democrats wonderful! Always looking out for the little guy.

Obama is a means justifies the ends kind of guy. This allows him to speak of dead people as “bumps on the road” and to refer to the millions of people who are losing their healthcare insurance as a “small percentage of folks”.

This kind of guy never apologizes for his actions unless it leads him closer to the end. So, this is not an apology — it is an effort to save his legacy and allow him to continue on.

There are many things Obama could do with the stroke of a pen or a phone call to end this. But he will not.

Obama has lost credibility and trust. This means nothing and I for one, do not feel that this is some grand humbling gesture for which I should be grateful. Too little too late.

F.U. I have spent untold hours in recent weeks trying to find an affordable policy. I am furious you have caused my policy to be cancelled. And despite not being poor, I am now told my kids have to go on Medicaid in my state so they won’t be able to keep their doctor.

Nothing, but nothing will restore trust for Obama.
He’s lied before, he’s lying today and he’ll lie again tomorrow.
He’s not ” manning up “, Obama is just doing what is politically expedient in an attempt to saved face.

That means that no matter how we reform health care, we will keep this promise to the American people: If you like your doctor, you will be able to keep your doctor, period. If you like your health care plan, you’ll be able to keep your health care plan, period. No one will take it away, no matter what.

– Those are the words read from the trusty teleprompter of Preezy Revenge to the American Medical Association on June 15, 2009.

His apologies are about as empty as his soul. Wake me up when he resigns for perpetrating a massive fraud on the American people.

“Even though it’s a small percentage of folks who may be disadvantaged, you know, it means a lot to them. And it’s scary to them,” Obama said “And I am sorry that they — you know, are finding themselves in this situation, based on assurances they got from me.”

Even in his so called apology he still lies……..

1.”small percentage of folks”……..small percentage equals Millions of people and that number could get to 80 million according to one consultant on Fox. That would be around 25 % if true. The uninsured amount was only 15 % and many of them are not insured by their choice. So, if this website does not get up and running that is affecting 40 % not knowing what their future policies will be like and their cost.

2. Scary is just one emotion to describe the emotion people feel……..screwed, angry, mad, betrayed, captured, enslaved are just a few that come to mind

3. People are not in this situation because of his “assurances”, they are here due to his actions as President and leader of the Democrat Party which passed a bill with no bi-partisan support. He hired his wife’s roommates company to build the website and his lobbyist put the bill together “that had to be passed to see what is in it.

And I read they are trying to close the self-insured “loophole” for the millions of people covered under an employer self-insurance plan. Most of the employees don’t even realize their employer self-insures because the claims are processed through an insurance company. Oh what fun next year will be when millions more lose their plans.

Also, Robin, they are going to close state high risk pools–the ones now funding those with pre-existings in states lucky enough to have them. Now those sicker people will be at the mercy of the exchanges and I bet the insurance won’t cost less.

Offered contrition? Expressed remorse? C’mon, Keith. I know you try to be fair, but you’re really smarter than that. He has neither contrition to offer nor remorse to express, because his calculated lies have served their purpose of neutralizing opposition to his agenda until the wrecking ball can do its work on private insurance.

He didn’t just “leave out critical information”; he made pledges that were diametrically opposed to what he and his minions were actually planning. When people began calling him on the lies, Obama and Carney et al. replied with a new lie: that “only 5% of the population” was affected by policy cancellations — even though the administration was estimating back in 2010 that at least half of all currently insured people would lose their policies as soon as the law was fully implemented.

I guarantee you that Obama has not the slightest regret about lying, because lying has served him very well. Nor will he stop lying.

There are people who have lied all their life. They lie and lie and then lie some more. And, there are always less-than-intuitive and less-than-intelligent people who will always believe the lies because it is what they WANT to hear. That is one of the issues with our society – a belief that if one can speak it – then – it becomes reality. That belief makes everything easy. I do not believe one word that is uttered from this man’s mouth. He must have a fantasic memory because every single word he utters is given to him to speak by someone else…Valerie?

Another thing: It’s been revealed that the administration had an internal debate about whether they should tell people “you can keep your insurance.” Some insiders suggested they not say it because it wasn’t true. They were overruled by those who made a calculated decision to LIE.

I weep for the gentleman (and others), who appeared on Megan Kelly tonight. He was paying $161/mo for insurance that covered his cancer treatment. His ins. was cancelled and it will cost him $1500.mo. to get the treatment he needs. His decision was to pay the $95/mo PENALTY and let mother nature take it’s course. He does not want to burden his family.
There is a special place in h*ll for Obama and his ‘team’ of Commies.

I was wondering how that if a 60 year old man signs up for Obamacare and pays more for maternity and gynecological care it’s a better policy, as the “president” keeps saying?

Also, why do insurance companies charge this 60 year man more for unneeded coverage if they know he’ll never be able to use this unneeded coverage even though it’s mandated? The reason you pay for various coverages is because of the possibility it may be used.

It’s all part of spreading the wealth around. What really gets me is that the under 30 group does NOT have to have maternity insurance. They are the only group allowed to buy catastrophic insurance only and yet are in their prime for having children.

Pure theatre he’s not sorry this was as true as the ‘if you like your plan, Dr etc’. Going to have to throw the hooey card on this performance just
something he had to get out of the way you can tell by todays’s schedule
if he cared he’d keep his butt in the Oval Office and work to fix the biggest boondoggle in history. Same s–t different day.

Sheesh, how many times have we seen THIS? A Democrat does something stupid, illegal, or both; wriggles, lies, points fingers ’till it doesn’t work any more; and THEN issues a (non) apology and takes (some) repsonsibility, then offers to exacerbate the problem?

Clinton? Reno? Other Clinton? Katy Succubus/Gilligan? Now THIS guy?

The responsibility NEVER means anything. They have no consequences, no regrets, and do nothing to fix the problem. No one goes to jail, gets fired, or otherwise pays for their crimes as they would in a private enterprise setting; they just merrily go one with power undiminished, and make the same or worse mistakes allll over again.

I suspect every generation has to elect a Democrat, just to find out why it’s a bad idea to elect Democrats, since no one ever listens to their parents. It USUALLY doesn’t take this long for them to learn the lesson, though…

I heard a caller to a radio program suggest that, since the President is now a self-certified liar, perhaps THIS should re-energize investigations into; Benghazi, Fast and Furious, NSA, spying on foreign heads of State, the President’s ability to kill anyone, anywhere, anytime with NO oversight with drones; IRS abuses, EPA abuses, every OTHER Federal agency abuses…you get the drift. I think it’s a point well taken, but you just have to say “thanks for finally joining us” to most LIVs, since SOME of us knew this guy had NO “credibility” from Day One…

I wouldn’t weep for Hopey just yet, though. It’s just another love spat, like the one after the AP story broke, between him and his media; but, like a battered wife, they’ll be back at his side any day now, ready to attack whatever policeman DARE try to rescue them from him…

Of course the media will be back for him….they are terrified of him and what he can do to them via the IRS, NSA, etc.. It’s the Chicago way where blackmail, extortion and graft are a normal part of the political process.

“We’ve got to work hard to make sure that — they know — we hear ‘em and that we’re gonna do everything we can — to deal with folks who find themselves — in a tough position as a consequence of this……….I’m every day workin’ hard to try to make life a little bit better for middle class families who are — and folks who are tryin’ to get in the middle class who are doin’ the right thing and bein’ responsible . . .”

Barry is so pathetic, tryin’ to be one of the folks with those dropped letters and the fake accent. I absolutely hate, loathe and despise him.

Obama also needs to apologize to House Republicans who stood firm in seeking a year-long delay compromise on Obamascare, now that he realizes he was wrong, dead wrong. The government shutdown was also Obama’s fault; he should also apologize to the nation for that as well.

Yes, having our carefully cobbled together insurance situation blasted to smithereens is “scary to us.” Sorry, YOU got burned by the website…I mean, we did…boo hoo. But hey, we are just a teeny percentage, maybe 15 million–at least until the employers start heaving people onto the exchanges!

We have all had a moment when we sat on a toilet
bored out of our minds and felt completely unproductive.

You can also decorate the whole floor or a portion of the party area with green carpet.
Today a plethora of titles particularly Massively Multiplayer Online
games and those released on to mobile platforms offer themselves up for free electing
to sell players optional extra’s later via micro transactions – a sort of extended demo, the so called Freemium
pay model.

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